Australian Benjamin Dibor (Victoire Hiroshima) won the 2023 Taiwan KOM Challenge, breaking the record held by Vincenzo Nibali since 2017 for more than 3 minutes. The 34-year-old veteran completed the 105km climbing event with a signature single ascent of 87km to Hehaun Mountain at 3:16:09. 3:19:54

Known as 'race through the clouds to heaven.'A collective field of more than 950 elite and non-elite riders began in the Pacific Ocean surface Qixingtan Beach Square in the dark and followed the route to the top of the mountain at Wuling, 3,275 meters, the highest paved road in Taiwan. After the first steady 18.5km, the clock began for the official uphill grind beyond the final 87 km.

Dieball was runner-up in the 2018 and 2019 Hill climb 2 times, calling it "1 day 1 climb, it's just brutal." The route has a descent of 4.5 km, but according to the organizers, half a dozen short sections reach a slope of 12-15%, and a stretch of 7.4 km from the top reaches 27%.

Friday's runner-up was WorldTour pro Jesúsdavidpeña (Team Jayco AlUla), 4:20 a.m. Sohei KANEKO of Japan took 3rd place and then returned to 2:32.

"Today was really really hard – harder than I expected. I was thinking about starting to push the last 1 and a half hours, but it could have been 2 and a half hours at a really high pace," Peña told GCN at the finish. Colombia finished eighth in GC on the GREE-Tour Of Guangxi.

"It was foggy over 2,000 meters and the road didn't look very good, but it was fine. It was really hard in the last 10km, steep, hard and altitude. The last kilometer each time was difficult.

Peña's teammate Simon Yates also took part in the grand event, finishing in 3:35:55 time in 11th place. He called it "fun," but added that "it was a difficult race today."

"Me and David tried to do their best, but they were defeated by several others, but that's what happens. I really enjoyed the challenge and I'm sure I'll be back in another year," Yates told GCN.

Dyball, who raced at World Tour level with Ntt Pro Cycling in 2020, joined the Japan-based Continental team Victoire Hiroshima this season and was second overall on the Tour of Japan. Diebol has a long list of achievements in the Oceania region, from winning the Double Continental Championship in the 2019 road race and time trial to winning the GC in the Tour de Taiwan (2022), Tour de Langkawi (2019) and Tour of Thailand (2018).

The Taiwan KOM Challenge was held by the Taiwan Cycling Federation and began in 2012 with 79 entries. There is a 6.5-hour limit from the official start point and riders can complete the course for the official time.